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All you wanted to know about ringtones
Ringtones are the sounds that mobile phone make to signal incoming calls or text messages. The essential characteristics of ringtones is that it can be customized to suit the individual’s taste and that feature could be said to influence ...
Internet Grey Areas
The Internet has opened up whole new avenues of freedom for people: freedom of information, thoughts and the ability to achieve anonymity while still being active in a community. This freedom has been latched onto by a large proportion of the...
Mr
Introduction Although online data backup is more widely known now than ever before and has grown with the advent of broadband access, many don't really know what if any differences exist between the services on offer. As with all products and...
The Worst Case Scenario: How To Protect Your Data
Just another day, doing as you always do with your computer. Making documents, working on your finances, updating your family's website or conducting your home or online business.
Suddenly, strange errors start appearing, your computer makes...
Unrelated Inventiions: Catering for the uncommon denominator
This is a first in a series of Software/Shareware developer profiles as presented by MP3-CDBurner.com. Let's get started with a brief profile of Unrelated Inventions. Unrelated Inventions - http://www.unrelatedinventions.com is an umbrella for...
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The Ten Most Common Mistakes When Buying an MP3 Player (and How to Avoid Them)
The Ten Most Common Mistakes When Buying an MP3 Player (and How to Avoid Them)
One of the most common reactions after buying a new MP3 player is "GEE! My player doesn't have X!” Substitute “X” for FM radio, microphone, or enough memory and you get an idea of some of the options which are available on MP3 players. Everybody has different requirements for an MP3 player, so avoid the first common mistake --
1. Not considering how the MP3 player will be used.
Sure, everybody (or almost everybody) wants a portable player to listen to music. Every MP3 player does that! What else do you need it for? Do you need a microphone for recording lectures or business meetings? Do you need an FM radio for keeping up-to-date on the weather reports or traffic conditions?
2. Not getting enough memory.
You can pick up an MP3 player for less than $50. What a bargain! The trouble is, you don't get very much memory for $50, and if you have a sizable music collection you will need to transfer music to the player almost every day.
3. Not getting a powerful battery.
Check out the battery life when you buy a new player. Flash based devices should last for more than 20 hours on a single charge, and hard drive based players should run for at least 15 hours. This is enough power to keep you in music for several days before recharging.
4. The player doesn’t handle “X” format.
What kind of files can be played? If you have a sizeable MP3 collection and discover that your new player only plays WMA
files you will have to convert all your music to that format.
5. The sound is not great.
Some players have less-than-ideal sound for music. Look for a signal to noise ratio of at least 90dB.
6. Low (or high) bitrates are not supported.
If you want to use the player to record voice, look for a player that supports a range of bitrates. Voice recordings do not need a high bitrate and lower bitrates will give you more storage capacity.
7. There isn’t an equalizer.
If you wish to customize the sound of your music you need to have an equalizer which allows you to adjust individual sound spectrums.
8. Not getting a line input.
If you wish to record sources like cassette decks or TV shows you should get a player that allows you to connect these devices with a line input.
9. Not getting a big enough display screen.
Some players come with tiny or non-existent screens. It’s hard to see what song is being played or to change the settings.
10. Not being firmware upgradeable.
MP3 players are driven by software and this software can have bugs – especially if the player was rushed to market. There should be a way to upgrade the player’s operating system.
About the author:
Ross is audio enthusiast and author of the Audio How
To Section of the Selected Audio Review Guide
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